Stamford, Conn. – After almost a month of backroom negotiation and geopolitical maneuvering, the red-hot “Ultimate Severance” murder investigation has hit a wall. It's been learned that a Saudi oil kingpin, referred to as "Mohammad Z," has come forward not only claiming that the Guantanamo prisoner and informant Dr. Ali al-Aboukar is a member of the Royal Family, but that he's “completely innocent.”

Last month, the FBI in a joint operation with the Department of Homeland Security had taken into custody the 32-year-old Saudi gynecologist, Dr. Ali al-Aboukar aka Hamid al-Sammara, in connection with the murder of PR biggies Pasquel Valentine and Al Tate. Both are alleged to have collected millions of dollars in fees from dubious clients served through cut-off subsidiary PR firms. Doctor al-Aboukar was believed to have masterminded an elaborate cover up.

Last week, Mohammad Z, whose name remains undisclosed because of his ties to France and Russia, said his royal cousin should be released immediately and that it is “ludicrous” to suggest any similarity between him and the PR executive in the popular novel, “Ultimate Severance.”

Meantime, two other major leads in the case also appear to have mysteriously and summarily gone cold:

--Investigators were reported to have confirmed that Iraqi terrorist chieftain, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, also had taken part in the murder cover-up to protect funding sources. But now the New York Times is reporting that al-Baghdadi was a total fiction created to make it appear that al-Qaida foreigners dominate the insurgency in Iraq.

--Also, American agents were understood to have been tipped by Israeli Intelligence about continuing international cell-phone chatter mentioning the Valentine-Tate murders. Sources are now saying that by the time the agents obtained warrants to precede the phone records had been destroyed.

And that now seems to be true of all sources surrounding the Ultimate Severance case. As a diplomatic courtesy to an ally and because of the delicacy of the other governments involved, the intelligence community seems to have fallen in lockstep and will likely obfuscate any further investigation.

Dr. al-Aboukar is expected to be released from Guantanamo this Wednesday.

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Ken Wolfson is an award-winning freelance investigative reporter.

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